Friday, January 5, 2024
Hi. My name is Mikaela. I’m a 28 year old American living in Amsterdam with my boyfriend, Mickey.
After living in Chicago for 5 years, I quit my corporate job to focus on building my own business. A risk I felt I had to take, and it was now or never. So in the spring of 2023, I did, and Mickey and I moved to Europe, seeking a fresh adventure and a different lifestyle.
We have decided to take on an exciting endeavor in 2024. In search of a way to marry my two greatest passions, travel and cooking, this is what we came up with: Each month of the year we will be focusing on one country’s cuisine, cooking only traditional meals originating from that country. The goal is to be as consistent as possible, meanwhile documenting the entire process through my writing.
I love food. When I travel, what I care about most are the restaurants I’ll be eating at. When I’m at home, I care most about what I’ll be cooking for dinner. I have always had a passion for cooking, which goes far beyond my love for food. There is something so calming and fulfilling about focusing on a recipe that yields a wonderful meal to enjoy afterwards. If I’ve had a stressful day, it’s the perfect way to relax. I also find it to be a fun social experience, I love cooking with friends. And last but not least, it’s a great way to express creativity.
I also love using food as a way to learn about a country and its’ culture. Food is something everyone eats everyday but in an entirely different way. I’m hopeful that by doing this experiment, we will find ourselves curious and eager to learn more about these different countries, beyond even just their food, without needing to spend tons of money to travel there. All by doing something we love.
Finally, we want to challenge ourselves by holding ourselves accountable for something. That’s why I plan to document and reflect on the process through writing each day. Every day we will be cooking and learning and growing and I’ll be sharing all of it, hopefully to an audience, and I can’t let them down.
This coming Sunday, January 7, I will announce the country we have chosen to focus on in January, along with the first recipe. And from then on, it’s showtime. The more we research this country and what we’ll be cooking, eating and sharing, the more I get excited about it and about this endeavor in general.
One more thing… Along with sharing our cooking journey, I’ll be sharing my journey of finding myself as an American living abroad. I was feeling entirely lost and unfulfilled before moving here. Now I feel more confident and fulfilled than ever. I’d love to share inspiration from my everyday life that has helped make me so happy.
xo, mikaela
